


Hidden Passageways

by Jerevinan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Childhood, Fluff, Ignis going above and beyond, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Protection, baby!ignocts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 10:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13029111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerevinan/pseuds/Jerevinan
Summary: When a fun competition leads to two little boys getting lost, Ignis is there for his prince.





	Hidden Passageways

**Author's Note:**

> Ignis and Noctis met much younger for this story, given that they're quite young for this. I imagine Noct is about four years old.

“Iggy, I’ll race you!” The prince pointed with a chubby arm to the end of the hallway. “To there!”

“Boys, please!” Ignis and Noctis’ shoes against the tiled floors drowned out the nurse’s voice, her worried cries unheard by either child.

Ignis took satisfaction in the slap of his soles against the marble as he dashed away. By the time Ignis and Noctis made it to the end of the hallway, Noctis pointed to another new goal. 

“There!”

Ignis chased after Noctis, who had already determined they would continue the race and got an early start.

“Down the stairs, Iggy!” 

The two of them clambered down the steps, Ignis only a little behind. Usually, the two kept up with one another quite well. Races were always a close call, with the winner a few seconds ahead of the loser. Noctis had a slight competitive streak and often got a head start in his eagerness to see how they turned out. 

They continued the race through several corridors and down several stairwells. Ignis finally collapsed beside Noctis against a wall and caught his breath.

“Where are we?” asked Ignis, peering around. The usual black décor of the Citadel, with its towering doorways, ornate plastering, and reprinted images of the prophecy were nowhere in sight. They were surrounded by narrow gray cement on all sides.

Noctis blinked, wide-eyed, at the area around them. “I don’t know.”

Ignis smoothed his fingers along the grains on the wall. Cool to the touch. He didn’t like this. It felt like a place they weren’t supposed to be.

“Maybe we should head back?”

Noctis nodded and bounced to his feet. They wandered up the stairways they thought would lead them back, but after a few corridors, Ignis wasn’t sure they had retraced their steps properly. He only remembered bits and pieces of their more recent turns. Everything else was a blur, especially when he had done nothing more than run through these areas.

“We’re lost…” Noctis puffed out his cheeks. “Daddy’s gonna be mad.”

None would be more furious than Ignis’ uncle, who had repeatedly told Ignis to behave when he was with the prince. This wasn’t the only time they had been naughty. While no one ever threatened to take him away from Noctis, the fear that he might be separated from his best friend remained ever-present in the back of his mind. 

Noctis poked his head around a corner and started to sniffle. “Iggy, it’s the same. It all looks the same.” 

Ignis remembered something his uncle told him once. Algernon had said that if he got lost, not to wander around but to stay put.

“Noct, let’s sit down and wait.”

Ignis took off his jacket and set it down on the tiled floors. He took up half of it as he sat down, patting the other half with his hand. Noctis shuffled over and lowered onto it. As the minutes passed in silence, both of them waiting for the sound of adult footsteps or voices, Noctis squirmed closer.

“I’m not scared,” said Noctis in a trembling voice. To ease his sniffling, Ignis wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer.

Ignis was terrified, but he would never admit it. The fear of punishment began to fade, giving way to fright of a different kind. They had no idea where they were, but it seemed the kind of place where ghosts dwelled. Every childish nightmare Ignis ever had took shape. 

He imagined daemons creeping around in the dimly lit passages. Listening for the boys’ breathing. Waiting for them to move a finger and detect their presence. 

Ignis came up with his own vision of daemons, having never witnessed any. All he had were stories—tales told to little children to convince them to mind their manners and listen to their parents. The wall kept the real thing out.

To keep them both calm, Ignis brought up their favorite cartoon character. But even that only lasted for a few minutes when they had finished rehearsing the events of the most recent episode. 

“I’ll protect you,” said Ignis when Noctis began to whimper again.

“I’ll protect you, too,” said Noctis, tightening his grip on Ignis’ shirt.

When Ignis heard footsteps, he closed his eyes tight against the evil presence. They came closer, boot soles tapping against the tiles. Those were not daemons. Spirits of dead Crownsguard members? 

But he’d made a promise. He would stand against whatever threatened Noctis. But when Ignis opened his eyes, he came face to face with a familiar person.

“Hey, Clarus! I found them—they’re over here!” 

At the same time Noctis jumped out of his embrace, Ignis leapt from his jacket. They latched onto Cor and began a twin chorus of sobbing out apologies.

“Hey, it’s fine.” A large palm rested on the top of Ignis’ head, fingers threading through his short hair. “We’re just glad we found you.”

No one asked them what happened. Clarus and Cor lifted them into their arms, a half dozen other guards and glaives following behind them. They brought them to the big dining hall where Noctis always ate dinner with his father, and the kitchen employees brought in water and sandwiches. 

Ignis sipped on his glass of water, but his stomach clenched too hard to swallow down a bite of the meal provided. Noctis pushed his sandwich around on his plate and picked at the crust, eyes glassing over with a new batch of tears.

“What happened?” asked Clarus, taking a seat across from the boys. He lowered his head down to their level and smiled. “You were gone for hours.”

Hours? It had felt an eternity, wandering those scary halls and then sitting down and bracing for an attack from the evils lurking in the dark of the Citadel passageways.

“We were racing and got lost,” said Ignis. “We shouldn’t have run off…”

“Of course not, but accidents happen.”

“Are we in trouble?” asked Noctis through a sob.

“No, no you’re not. We’re all happy to see you’re safe.”

“It was scary! Don’t like that place.” Noctis stuck out his bottom lip.

“Yes, we don’t really like it either,” said Clarus, laughing. “Only the bravest glaives and Crownsguard members ever try those secret passages. I guess you two are very brave.”

Noctis’ eyes widened. He bought it, and Ignis didn’t care that he fell for it if it made him happy again.

“We’re brave?” Noctis mouthed the word after he said it.

“Yes, brave indeed! I’ll have you know, your father still doesn’t like to go down in those tunnels alone.”

A cough from a distinctly recognizable royal member interrupted anything else Clarus might have said afterward.

“Clarus, I don’t think you need to be filling my son’s head with stories about my alleged cowardice.” Regis slid into the seat beside his son, one hand falling over that of his child’s. He squeezed it warmly. “I’m not afraid of those tunnels at all, but Clarus never lets me go anywhere alone.”

“He’s your shield, that’s why!” Noctis grinned. 

“Yes, he is.”

“Like Gladio!” Noctis paused. “Can Gladio come to play?”

“Tomorrow,” said Clarus. “I’ll bring him with me tomorrow.”

Ignis and Noctis beamed at one another. Gladiolus never got to visit them enough—especially when he was older and taller. Gladiolus would’ve known how to get out of those creepy corridors, and he could beat up any daemons down there.

“For now, eat your dinner so we can go to bed,” said Regis, kissing the top of his head. “That goes for you, too, Ignis. You aren’t in trouble. Algernon was worried, too. I’ll let him know you protected Noctis while you were lost.”

Ignis felt the tightness in his stomach uncoil and reached for his sandwich, giving the king a grateful smile. He didn’t think he had done much, but if the king had faith in him, he had to have faith in himself.


End file.
